


Baby It's Cold Outside

by iam93percentstardust



Series: Holiday Song Fics 2016 [11]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, Kissing, Mildly Dubious Consent, Neck Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-11-07 19:16:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11065410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iam93percentstardust/pseuds/iam93percentstardust
Summary: Clara and the Doctor have been dating for a few months now. They’d like to spend the evening together but Clara promised her parents that she’d have dinner with them. Can the Doctor convince Clara to stay with him instead?





	Baby It's Cold Outside

Clara opened the door to the TARDIS. She didn’t really want to go outside in the cold but another adventure was over and she had promised her parents the evening. She looked back at the warm interior. The Doctor had his back turned to her. They’d argued over her leaving that night. He thought she should stay (she thought she should stay too but she wasn’t going to tell him that). She took a step outside.

“You could stay, you know,” the Doctor said abruptly.

She paused. “I really can’t stay.”

“Baby, it’s cold outside.”

She whirled around. For all of their stolen kisses, teasing caresses, and nights that went a little farther than they’d planned, he’d never called her that before. It wasn’t really his style. He was facing her, a twinkle in his eyes. He’d gotten her attention the way he’d wanted.

“I’ve gotta go away,” she sighed, turning back to the outside world.

He caught her hands. “Baby, it’s cold outside,” he repeated.

Turning back to face him, she started to say, “This evening has been-”

“Been hoping that you’d drop in,” he interrupted, reminding Clara that she had called him, asking for an adventure.

“So very nice,” she finished firmly, pulling her hands out of his.

He grabbed hold of her hand again. “I’ll hold your hands,” he offered. “They’re just like ice.”

For a moment, Clara was tempted. But then her phone began to ring. She tugged her hands free and looked at the phone. It was her mother. She had to take this call. Before she could answer, the Doctor stole her phone, silenced the ringer, and put it in his jacket pocket. He backed away as Clara advanced on him.

“My mother will start to worry,” she warned.

He shrugged. “Beautiful, what’s your hurry?” He began typing on one of the keyboards, not taking his eyes off of her.

“My father will be pacing the floor.”

“Listen to that fireplace roar,” he replied, showing her the screen. She could hear the fake crackling of a fire as it played on the screen. Admittedly, it was a lot warmer in here than it was outside and she had quite a ways to walk.

Still- “So really, I’d better scurry,” Clara said reluctantly.

“Beautiful, what’s your hurry?” the Doctor asked. He held up the emergency bottle of wine he kept under the console.

She smiled. “Well… maybe just a half a drink more.”

The Doctor returned her smile. “I’ll put some records on while I pour.” He snapped his fingers and old jazzy Christmas music played over the speakers. She accepted her glass from him and took a sip. It really was an amazing wine. She took the bottle from him to check the year and nearly choked when she saw old it was.

Glancing out the open door, she saw that the snow flurries had started to pick up. It was starting to look like a grand old blizzard out there. “The neighbors might think-” She stopped, realizing that there was no way they could actually see inside through the snow.

The Doctor followed her gaze. “Baby, it’s bad out there,” he cautioned.

She checked the bottle again. The vineyard was unfamiliar and she wondered if it had come from another planet. “Say, what’s in this drink?” she asked curiously.

He didn’t seem to hear her question. “No cabs to be had out there,” he mused quietly. There was a worried look on his face.

Clara approached him and placed her hand on his cheek, turning his face to hers. His eyes caught hers and held. She took a deep breath. “I wish I knew how-” she whispered.

“Your eyes are like starlight now.”

“-to break this spell,” she finished, blushing at the compliment.

“I’ll take your hat,” he offered, removing her hat from her head. He smoothed down her hair, running his fingers through the waves. She swayed into him. “Your hair looks swell.” Clara giggled at the old-fashioned language.

His hands dropped to her waist. She thought of pushing them away but they felt good there. “I ought to say no.” Her voice caught on the last word. “No,” she said more breathily as his left hand massaged her back.

“No sir,” she finally said more firmly. She moved his hand back to her waist.

“Mind if I move in closer?” he asked. She shook her head and he took one step closer to her. They were barely a few inches apart now.

“At least I’m gonna say that I tried,” she replied. Clara knew that her parents wouldn’t care if she was a little late. They’d be delighted to find out that she’d been out with someone- especially if she were dating that someone. They wanted grandchildren and they thought that her social life was sorely lacking in the dating department.

“What’s the sense in hurting my pride?” the Doctor asked, encouraging her line of thinking. One arm wrapped around her back, pulling her in tighter. She gasped, her hands grasping his shoulder.

Even so, she felt bad that she would be late to dinner with her parents. She ducked out of his grasp. “I really can’t stay,” she said regretfully.

“Baby, don’t hold out,” he said, seeming to want her to return to her earlier way of thinking. Her head snapped up at his words and he immediately realized that he’d said the wrong thing. She shoved her drink back into his hands and grabbed her hat. Placing it on her head, she took a step outside, intending to brave the blizzard.

But it was a lot worse than she’d expected and, although she was still slightly upset at what he’d said, she slunk back inside.

“It’s cold outside,” they said together. She had meant it as more of an explanation but from him, it sounded like a reminder. The Doctor reached behind her and closed the door, trapping the warm air inside.

With the door closed, it was a lot easier to imagine that the outside world simply didn’t exist. However, Clara was determined to leave now and she marched deeper into the TARDIS to locate a good coatroom. If she had to travel in snowshoes to reach her dinner, she was going to.

She found an absolutely stunning mink fur coat in the first room she tried. It had to be at least a few hundred years old. After some searching, she found the matching muff for her hands. These would be perfect.

Returning to the console room, she saw that she would have to push past the Doctor if she wanted to make it outside. Well, so be it. He caught her around the waist as she slid by him.

“I simply must go,” she said sharply.

He gave her that heart-melting smile, the one that he always gave her when he was sorry. “Baby, it’s cold outside.”

She sighed, thinking that it was impossible to stay mad at him. “The answer is ‘no,’” she said, although not as firmly this time. In a way, she almost wanted him to push back.

But respecting her boundaries, he stepped back and Clara felt the loss immediately. “But, baby, it’s cold outside,” he said. Again, he sounded a little worried and Clara wondered if the weather had gotten worse while she’d been searching for a coat.

She couldn’t miss dinner though. She’d missed the last two because she’d been with the Doctor. Looking around at the wine bottle sitting on the console and the fire still blazing merrily on the screen, she said, “The welcome has been-”

“How lucky that you dropped in,” the Doctor interrupted and she felt bad. She knew that he was often lonely when he didn’t have a companion around and she’d been so busy with her teaching that they hadn’t seen each other in a few months.

“So very nice,” she reassured him. Clara took hold of his hands and smiled at him.

“Look out the window at that storm,” he told her. He led her to one of the windows in the console room to show her the outside. She had been right. The weather had gotten considerably worse while she’d been looking for a coat. Visibility was now only a few feet. Her spirits sank. There was no way she could safely get to her parents now.

Perhaps it was that her shoulders slumped. Or that her mouth took on the shape of a frown. Whatever it was, the Doctor seemed to figure out that she was upset. He handed her one of the wine glasses again and then moved away from her. She sipped at it thoughtfully.

Typically, she would worry incessantly that she couldn’t get to her parents but she suspected that they would have told her to stay home anyway with this weather. Clara turned to look at the Doctor. He was tapping away at the keyboard again. At first, she thought that he was setting in the coordinates for another destination but when the TARDIS didn’t start its wheezing groan, she considered that he was maybe doing something different.

After all those minutes of trying to convince her to stay, she thought it rather irritating that he was no longer paying attention to her. She sashayed over to him.

Perching herself on an empty spot on the console, she said, “My sister will be suspicious.”

The Doctor glanced at her and smirked. They both knew that she didn’t have a sister. They also both knew that this was her way of teasing him. She bit her lower lip. “Gosh, your lips look delicious,” he said, leaning forward. Then he pulled back like he had remembered something.

Trying harder, Clara continued, “My brother will be there at the door.”

He pulled her off the console and dragged her back to the window. “Waves upon a tropical shore,” he replied, gesturing at the window.

Clara didn’t look. “My maiden aunt’s mind is vicious,” she said, wondering what he was doing. He took hold of her chin and pointed her to the window. She looked outside and gasped. Even though they hadn’t even left London, it looked like an island paradise outside. She suspected it was a virtual reality trick designed to cheer her up.

She turned around to face him, slid her arms around his neck, and kissed him hard. The Doctor kissed her back just as fiercely. After a moment, he pulled back. “Gosh, your lips are delicious,” he murmured, wondrous eyes following the contours of her face.

His lips trailed down to her neck. One of his hands slid around her waist to pull her in closer. The other buried itself in her hair. Clara gasped quietly. He nipped at the area below her ear.

“Maybe just a cigarette more,” she muttered. It didn’t make any sense. She didn’t even smoke. But she wanted to maintain at least some semblance of control and talking seemed the way to do it.

“Never such a blizzard before,” came his muffled reply, lips against her skin.

For a few minutes, the room was silent other than the occasional gasp. The wind started to die down outside. Clara heard it and pulled back. She darted to the door and pulled it open. The snow was thick on the ground but it wasn’t such a blizzard anymore. At least she would be able to get to her parents.

“I’ve gotta get home,” she exclaimed. Fortunately, their little interlude hadn’t progressed beyond kissing (or unfortunately, depending on how she wanted to look at it). She dashed back to the window, looking for her hat.

The Doctor walked to the door. He stared outside and then looked at her like he’d never heard such an asinine idea. “Baby, you’ll freeze out there.”

“Say, lend me your comb,” she said desperately as she looked at her mussed hair in the mirror. He dug around in his jacket pocket, looking for the spare comb he always kept. He tossed it at her.

“It’s up to your knees out there,” he said, pointing at the snow.

“You’ve really been grand.” Clara hurried past him, stopping short when he grabbed her wrist.

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. She blushed and he couldn’t help feeling a small sense of pride. He’d put that look there. “I thrill when you touch my hand,” he told her, trying to sound as romantic as he could. He thought he might have just come off as ridiculous though as she didn’t quite look convinced.

“But don’t you see?”

“How can you do this thing to me?”

They both spoke at the same time. Clara stared at him for a second. Then she turned to look back outside. A few people were walking by. Several of them turned to look at the couple in the blue police box. She saw more than a few disapproving stares. She even recognized one of the school board members.

“There’s bound to be talk tomorrow,” she said, resigning herself to that fact.

“Think of my lifelong sorrow,” the Doctor said, holding her hand to one of his hearts.

She continued on like he hadn’t even spoken. “At least, there’ll be plenty implied.”

He finished, “If you got pneumonia and died.”

That caught her attention. She didn’t think it was that cold outside but she was an English teacher, not a nurse. “I really can’t stay,” she said, worrying at her lip.

The Doctor let go of her hand and stalked back to the console. It seemed like he wasn’t going to be able to convince her to stay. “Get over that hold out,” he muttered just as her phone started to ring. He handed it to her, sure that it was her mother asking her when she would be there for dinner.

Clara stared at the phone. Her mother had decided to cancel dinner for the night, since the weather was only supposed to get worse. They would reschedule for a different day.

She closed the doors to the TARDIS with a bang. “Oh, but it’s cold outside,” she said, turning to the Doctor with a big smile. He grinned back at her.


End file.
